Jones v. Meyer
| Decision Date | 21 May 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. S-98-495,S-98-495 |
| Citation | 594 N.W.2d 610,256 Neb. 947 |
| Parties | Michelle JONES, Appellant, v. Scott A. MEYER, Appellee. |
| Court | Nebraska Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. Damages: Appeal and Error. The amount of damages to be awarded is a determination solely for the fact finder, and its action in this respect will not be disturbed on appeal if it is supported by evidence and bears a reasonable relationship to the elements of the damages proved.
2. Trial: Evidence. The admission of medical bills into evidence without objection does not amount to a concession by the opposing party that these services were necessitated by the accident.
3. Juries: Evidence. It is for the jury, as trier of the facts, to resolve conflicts in the evidence and to determine the weight and credibility to be given to the testimony of witnesses.
4. Trial: Expert Witnesses. Triers of fact are not required to take opinions of experts as binding upon them.
5. Trial: Expert Witnesses. Determining the weight that should be given expert testimony is uniquely the province of the fact finder.
Vincent M. Powers, of Vincent M. Powers & Associates, for appellant.
Thomas B. Wood, of Baylor, Evnen, Curtiss, Grimit & Witt, Lincoln, for appellee.
Michelle Jones, also known as Michelle Moeller, appeals the decision of the district court for Lancaster County, Nebraska, in which the jury awarded Jones $10,000 in damages for an automobile accident involving Jones and appellee Scott A. Meyer. Jones is challenging the adequacy of the damages. We affirm.
This appeal arises from an automobile collision which occurred on April 9, 1995, at the intersection of 15th and F Streets in Lincoln, Nebraska, involving a vehicle operated by Jones and a vehicle operated by Meyer. Jones was taken to Lincoln General Hospital but was discharged the same night after tests returned normal results and she was referred to her family physician, a Dr. Grenier. Rather than seeing Grenier, Jones went to see Dr. David L. Timperley, a chiropractor, on April 14. Over the next 2 years 7 months, Timperley treated Jones on approximately 100 occasions.
Jones commenced this action against Meyer, claiming that the collision was caused by Meyer's negligence, that Jones was injured as a result of that negligence, and that Jones sustained damages. Meyer admitted in his amended answer that his negligence was the proximate cause of the collision, but denied that his negligence was the proximate cause of Jones' injuries and denied that Jones' injuries were of the nature, severity, or extent alleged by Jones.
Trial was held in the Lancaster County District Court. Timperley was called by Jones to testify. Timperley testified that when he saw Jones for the first time on April 14, 1995, Jones told him she had been in a car accident and complained of neck pain, headaches, nausea, back pain, and pain in her left arm. Jones' subsequent visits to Timperley continued to be for back pain, neck pain, and headaches. Timperley gave the opinion that Jones has some permanent impairment to the cervical and thoracic spine. Timperley also gave the opinion that the collision that occurred on April 9 was the proximate Jones testified on her own behalf. On direct examination, Jones testified that prior to the accident, she had never been treated for any neck or back injuries and that she had never been treated by a physician for any headaches. On cross-examination, however, she admitted that she saw a Dr. Schneider, a family physician, in February 1995 for a headache she had for several weeks and for problems in her neck and back. Schneider prescribed Darvocet for her. Jones testified that Schneider told her the symptoms were caused by a cold that had settled in her chest and back area and that the Darvocet was prescribed to alleviate the cold symptoms. Jones also testified that she was treated by Timperley because of pain she incurred after performing various activities, including moving out of her apartment, cleaning, and sitting on bleachers at a football game, as well as from bronchitis and work-related stress. In addition, Jones' treatment by Timperley was disrupted by three breaks in time: There was a 3-month gap from October 1995 until January 1996, a 2 1/2-month gap from February to May 1996, and another 2 1/2-month gap from August to November 1996.
cause of the injuries for which he had treated Jones. Timperley testified that he believed his charges for treating Jones were fair, reasonable, and necessitated by the injuries Jones suffered in the April 9 collision. On cross-examination, Timperley testified that he was not aware of any history of headaches Jones had prior to the accident, nor was he aware of any treatments or medications Jones had received for headaches prior to the accident.
Jones presented evidence of the following expenses arising from Meyer's negligence:
Auto damage $ 7,021.74
Auto rental ,072.27
Lincoln General Hospital 240.70
Radiology Associates, P.C. 47.00
Promed Services 73.50
David L. Timperley, P.C. 4,360.00
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Total $12,815.21
In the pretrial order, the parties stipulated as to the fairness and reasonableness of the bills of Lincoln General Hospital and Radiology Associates. During the trial, the parties stipulated to the amount of the property damage. The jury was subsequently instructed that the reasonable value of the cost of repair of Jones' automobile was $7,021.74 and that the cost to rent a substitute vehicle was $1,072.27. The other expenses were enumerated by the respective bills which were received into evidence. After the trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Jones for $10,000.
Jones filed a motion for new trial alleging, in part, inadequacy of the verdict. The motion was overruled, and Jones perfected this appeal. On our own motion, we moved this case to our docket pursuant to our authority to regulate the caseloads of this court and the Nebraska Court of Appeals.
Jones assigns that the jury's award of damages shows a disregard of the evidence and is inadequate as a matter of law.
The amount of damages to be awarded is a determination solely for the fact finder, and its action in this respect will not be disturbed on appeal if it is supported by evidence and bears a reasonable relationship to the elements of the damages proved. Reiser v. Coburn, 255 Neb. 655, 587 N.W.2d 336 (1998).
Jones argues that the jury's award of $10,000 was inadequate as a matter of law because she clearly established at trial medical and automobile-related expenses totaling $12,815.21. Jones asserts that the award must be inadequate because without even considering pain and suffering, it is less than the amount of special damages arising from the accident.
Jones relies on Murrish v. Burkey, 1 Neb.App. 650, 510 N.W.2d 366 (1993), which is a personal injury case resulting from a car accident wherein the Court of Appeals found the jury verdict to be inadequate. In Murrish, the parties stipulated that a medical expert would have testified that the following medical expenses for treatment of Murrish's broken arm were fair, reasonable, and necessitated by the accident: $5,753.09 for the hospital stay, $980 for the surgeon, $240 for the anesthesiologist, $198 for the radiologist, and $175 for physical therapy. After the trial court accepted and approved the stipulation during the trial, the trial court instructed the jury to accept the stipulation as fact. The jury found in favor of Murrish in the amount of $5,753.09, the cost of the hospital stay. The Court of Appeals concluded that it was not possible for the jury to find that the defendant was liable for Murrish's injury, but not liable for all of the undisputed medical expenses related to the injury.
The decision in Murrish v. Burkey, supra, was based on O'Neil v. Behrendt, 212 Neb. 372, 322 N.W.2d 790 (1982), also a personal injury case resulting from a car accident wherein the court found the jury verdict to be inadequate. Both parties in O'Neil stipulated that a medical expert would have testified that the plaintiff's fair and reasonable medical expenses as a result of the accident were $1,641.18. The plaintiff appealed the jury's verdict awarding the plaintiff $1,000 as being clearly inadequate. The defendant argued that the figures for medical expenses in the stipulation...
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